Lot Essay
In 1592/93 Jan Brueghel I visited Rome where his compatriot Bril had been for more than ten years. Probably under Brueghel's influence Bril started to paint independent oil paintings, the majority on copper and mostly known in several versions. His first known painting on copper dates from 1592 (Saint Jerome, private collection, Rome; see L. Salerno, Pittori di Paesaggio del Seicento a Roma, I, 1977/78, p. 15, fig. 2.1) and is in style still close to the work of Gillis van Coninxloo. Towards 1600 Bril came under the influence of Adam Elsheimer and his landscapes became more Italianate in spirit.
The present lot is characteristic of Bril's style around 1600 and is to be compared with the 'Mercury and Argus' of 1606 in the Galleria Sabauda, Turin (see Salerno, op.cit., p. 20, fig. 2.7).
Two other versions of the present lot are known, one in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, which is signed and dated 1601 (inv.no. 876); the other is recorded in an English private collection. A copy was offered at Sotheby's London, 15 April 1981, lot 94 and again 13 February 1985, lot 85, with ill.
The episode is described by Mark V, 1-14; Luke, VIII, 27-34 and Matthew, VIII, 28-34. Christ cured a man (in Matthew two men) possessed by the devil by casting of the evil spirit into a herd of swine, which was then drowned in the sea. In contrast to the texts, where the possessed is described as naked, Bril has represented him clothed and not kneeling but held by two men.
The subject seems rare at the time; it was rcorded in two versions of 1597 by Lucas van Valkenborch (Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts, Brussels, inv.no. 3896, and the Prado, inv.no. 1446)
We would like to thank Drs Luuk Pijl, who will include the present lot in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the work of Paul Bril, for his help in preparing this catalogue entry
See colour illustration
The present lot is characteristic of Bril's style around 1600 and is to be compared with the 'Mercury and Argus' of 1606 in the Galleria Sabauda, Turin (see Salerno, op.cit., p. 20, fig. 2.7).
Two other versions of the present lot are known, one in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich, which is signed and dated 1601 (inv.no. 876); the other is recorded in an English private collection. A copy was offered at Sotheby's London, 15 April 1981, lot 94 and again 13 February 1985, lot 85, with ill.
The episode is described by Mark V, 1-14; Luke, VIII, 27-34 and Matthew, VIII, 28-34. Christ cured a man (in Matthew two men) possessed by the devil by casting of the evil spirit into a herd of swine, which was then drowned in the sea. In contrast to the texts, where the possessed is described as naked, Bril has represented him clothed and not kneeling but held by two men.
The subject seems rare at the time; it was rcorded in two versions of 1597 by Lucas van Valkenborch (Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts, Brussels, inv.no. 3896, and the Prado, inv.no. 1446)
We would like to thank Drs Luuk Pijl, who will include the present lot in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the work of Paul Bril, for his help in preparing this catalogue entry
See colour illustration